Stephen King used quotes in “11/22/63” to portray his thoughts about what society would become if time travel existed. Using the voice of his main character, King also projected emotions of love, regret, and reflection.
Life and Chaos
For a moment everything was clear, and when that happens you see that the world is barely there at all. Don’t we all secretly know this? It is a perfectly balanced mechanism of shouts and echoes pretending to be wheels and cogs, a dream clock chiming beneath a mystery-glass we call life. Behind it? Below it and around it? Chaos, storms. Men with hammers, men with knives, men with guns. Women who twist what they cannot dominate and belittle what they cannot understand. A universe of horror and loss surrounding a single lighted stage where mortals dance in defiance of the dark.
Jake Epping Chapter 24 Part 6
Here, Stephen King talks about life’s chaotic and distortive nature using Jake as the observer.
The quote explains that the universe tends to love being in chaos. It shows how humans are destructive and portrays a world where destruction rules everything.
Traveling back in time, Jake realized that life is not unfair. He discovered that the chaotic nature of life was a perfectly balanced system that made sense when viewed on a grand scale. Jake realized that the bad was a crucial part of life because it defines good. His deductions were correct, as his positive change shattered the present.
Life turns on a dime.
Jake Epping Prologue
Jake made the statement above explaining the nature of chance and randomness.
He used it to explain how life could change with a single event, as just a short time later, he read Harry Dunning’s essay about the day that changed his life.
Life is a collection of events that mutually affect each other, and a single change could cause a heavy impact; the quote above explains that concept. Stephen King explained that life could instantly change for the worse, even though one tries to do otherwise.
We did not ask for this room or this music. We were invited in. Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces to the light. Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty. We have been given pain to be astounded by joy. We have been given life to deny death. We did not ask for this room or this music. But because we are here, let us dance.
Stephen King
Stephen King wrote the above poem for the 2016 television adaptation of “11/22/63.“
The quote above shows how people try to survive life’s pain and suffering. Stephen King explains how the will to fight persists even in the darkness.
Jake experienced pain as he watched the woman he loved die, but he lived past that pain and overcame the urge to change the past again after resetting everything to their original manner.
Love
But I believe in love, you know; love is a uniquely portable magic. I don’t think it’s in the stars, but I do believe that blood calls to blood and mind calls to mind and heart to heart.
Jake Epping Final Notes
Jake makes this statement after he reset the changes he made to time. Though it was a difficult decision, he knew the changes needed to occur for the world to survive.
Love knows no time and boundaries, as Jake fell for Sadie. His love for her made him realize that no matter what era he came from, love would remain a universal language that connected across time. He referred to love as uniquely portable magic that happened unexpectedly, and he knew that even after he reset time, Sadie would still, somewhere in her heart, know who he was.
Sometimes a man and a woman reach a crossroads and linger there, reluctant to take either way, knowing the wrong choice will mean the end… and knowing there’s so much worth saving.
Jake Epping Chapter 16 Part 3
Jake makes this statement after Sadie talks about the nature of their on-and-off relationship.
Love is about sacrifice and knowing how and when to make a decision. Jake was in an on-and-off relationship with Sadie because he knew a truth she never did: time travel.
He found himself in a strained situation where a single choice could make him lose the love of his life. However, he also knew that time was delicate, and exposing its secrets could mean danger for the woman he loved.
On the subject of love at first sight, I’m with the Beatles: I believe that it happens all the time.
Jake Epping Chapter 13 Part 6
Jake admitted here that he believed in love at first sight.
Upon returning to the past, he met Sadie and surprisingly fell for her even after going through a rough divorce
Love can be spontaneous, and Stephen King explains the weirdness of the concept in “11/22/63.” Jake never knew he would fall for a woman in the past, but as with love, it knows no time.
Identity
If you’ve ever been homesick, or felt exiled from all the things and people that once defined you, you’ll know how important welcoming words and friendly smiles can be.
Jake Epping Chapter 13 Part 5
Jake acknowledges the value of having people who love and care about your well-being here.
What happens when you feel out of place? The quote above perfectly simulates such a scenario. Jake was from another time when life was different, and his past travel made him lonelier than ever.
He felt out of time but realized that the only thing that mattered was the relationships he made. Friends make you smile and feel loved, and Jake found that love with the friends he eventually made.
Choice
Sometimes the things presented to us as choices aren’t choices at all.
Jake Epping Chapter 22 Part 5
Jake knew he could no longer make the change he wanted without the help of Deke Simmons
We all love to feel that we have a say, a choice in everything we do, but in this quote, Jake explains that may not always be correct. He thought he had to change the past, but soon realized he could not achieve his goal without the help of his friends. However, he knew telling them was dangerous; this put him in a dilemma where he had to choose between his goal and the safety of his friends.
Jake eventually realized his change brought only pain, suffering, and destruction. He had no other option than to revert the past to normal.
Sure I’d had second thoughts. But thoughts are not choices. If he’d had the idea I might back out, he was wrong. Stop Oswald? Sure. But Oswald was strictly secondary at that point, part of a misty future. A funny way to put it when you were thinking about 1963, but completely accurate. It was the Dunning family that was on my mind.
Jake Epping Chapter 9 Part 9
After realizing time travel was real, Jake took it upon himself to return to the past and save his friend’s family.
Even though he knew saving Kennedy was what Al wanted, he decided to do what he felt was right, saving Harry Dunning’s mother and siblings.
The Butterfly Effect
We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why. Not until the future eats the present, anyway. We know when it’s too late.
Jake Epping Chapter 17 Part 12
The quote above elaborates on the effect of the choices we make.
The butterfly effect happens when a small change creates a massive impact. Jake never knew that changing the past, even in the slightest way, vastly affects the future, but after killing Frank Dunning, he realized his actions had a massive impact on others.
Jake’s changing of the past made him realize that though people may have terrible experiences in their lives, those experiences may be what shape them for the better.
Pain
Some silences can be comfortable. This one felt deadly.
Jake Epping Chapter 16 Part 1
After returning to the past, Jake changed his name to George Amberson. He met Sadie and fell in love, but her past prevented her from moving forward.
Jake here knew that for him and Sadie to love each other without any worries, they would need to open everything up and be 100% clean with each other; this forced him into a state of guilt as he did not want to place the burden of time alteration on Sadie.
Sorry, buddy, couldn’t wait. Too much pain
Al Templeton Chapter 9 Part 9
After introducing his friend to time traveling, Al Templeton could no longer bear the pain of cancer; this made him commit suicide.
He made the statement above in his suicide note, begging Jake to save the world by saving President JFK from being murdered by Oswald.
The Mystery of Life
Who can know when life hangs in the balance, or why?
Jake Epping Prologue
Life is a series of undiscernible events simultaneously occurring.
Jake made this speech in the prologue of the novel. He talked about how his life turned upside down in just a few years. His mother died from a heart attack while on the beach, his father succumbed to stomach cancer, and his wife left him.
He explains that no one can control how their life turns out, and everything can go from good to terrible instantly.
Changing the Past
I drove back to my apartment and listened to the end of the baseball game. I cried a little, I think. Those were tears of relief, not remorse. No matter what happened to me, the Dunning family was safe. I slept like a baby that night.
Jake Epping Chapter 10 Part 12
After traveling back to the past, Jake set out on the only mission he wanted to complete.
He pulled up to Frank Dunning’s parents’ grave and waited for him. On seeing the man who ended Harry’s mother and siblings’ lives, he pulled the trigger twice, ending the monster.
Jake admitted after committing the act he was at peace that Harry could finally have a better life free from the horrors of the past. Unknown to Jake, his action would lead to dire consequences.
But if you give a man some time, he can get used to anything, and when the shock finally started to wear off, I started to think I’d found that old rabbit-hole for a reason.
Jake Epping Chapter 3 Part 6
After learning about time travel, Jake began wondering about the numerous possibilities that could happen.
He makes the statement above after realizing that a confusing concept like time alteration exists. After the statement, he realizes he is not afraid of the consequences of time alteration. Unknown to him, those consequences would be too much to bear.
